22 December 2005

More on being exiles from "Hopeful Imagination" by Walter Brueggeman.

The exiles were securely and perhaps despondently exiles. They could not imagine any other status. They accepted Babylonian definitions of reality, not because they were convinced, but because no alternatives were available... The exiled community was in despair because it accepted Babylonian definitions of reality and did not know any others were available. That is, they were hopeless. They did not believe Yahweh could counter Babylon.

Hopeless is not a good place to be. A person can be in a situation that appears to be hopeless, and indeed it is...and yet still not be hopeless. When we are faced with a living situation that is run by powers greater than us, it can become quite overwhelming. Rather than have a sense of worth and substance it is so easy to let the powers around us define us. When that is the case, if we do not follow the rule of the day or the patterns of the day, then we can be judge (by others and ourselves) as worthless and insignificant. What the prophet brings to the people of God who are in Babylon is a word that seems to have no visible reality. It is as Brueggemann has said, a poetic imagination that carries good news without having to be stamped with the approval of the reigning powers. This word is the beginning of the creation of an alternative reality. It is not merely imaginary. It begins with our imagination but it moves into concrete living that is not in step with what has appeared to be the power that dictates how life is to be lived. Alternative visions make for alternative communities with alternative values and practices and life patterns. It is not the goal of such a community of imagination to conquer the world. Rather this kind of imagination that counts on our God to rule among us begins to bring worth to all who come within its reach and hear its word...even the whole creation.

Connection: Do not be afraid of the sounds of a new world. Instead, listen for what it is saying about how God's gracious action will lift up the lowly and bring to the world the healing of all things. This may sound strange but it is never too strange to enter.

Come, O God, and lift us up so that our imaginations may be stirred up by your living presence among us. Amen.